About BYSA

Birmingham Youth Sports Academy

Birmingham Youth Sports Academy (BYSA) was established in 2002 as a voluntary organisation and has received funding from a number of organisations in order to offer football coaching to young people aged 6-18 at Small Heath Leisure Centre – every Saturday morning – from 10:30am-12:30pm.

The Journey so far:

BYSA Started at Small Heath Park with only a few kids from the local area to get into football. It grew over a period of a few months and thereafter the project expanded and moved to Small Heath Leisure Centre which has become the HUB of the BYSA project. Our time at the centre now means we have the space to move the kids in their own age groups ranging from 6-18 years of age with professional qualified coaches who are also DBS checked. We have the indoor sports hall and outdoor astro turf pitches every week on Saturday mornings from 10:30am to 12:30pm which has over 150 plus kids attending every week.

Along side this we have started the girls project which has been a fantastic development and we have recruited female volunteers who have taken control of the project and delivered sessions to suit the girls abilities and get them active and keen to get into sport and stay fit. The girls project will be taking part in a number of trips and tournaments and we will hopefully get a girls team playing at league level football. The current age range for the girls project is 6 – 18 years of age and is at Saltley Leisure Centre on Sunday mornings from 11:00am to 1:00pm.

The BYSA head coaches have also developed the centre of excellence side which is for players who would like to move up the ladder and play league football tournaments in and around the country. We have additional sessions for the players so they can train and develop themselves with the FA qualified coaches that are at hand to offer their services on a voluntary basis. They also train at Saltley Leisure Centre on Tuesday and Friday evenings from 7:00pm to 9:00pm.

We are currently in partnership with the Albion Foundation and started an Under 8’s programme with the WBA coaches leading the sessions and looking for that next big star, alongside this we have some BYSA players playing at Worcester City FC in the academy teams which has helped them players move further and we wish them the very best.

The new addition to the BYSA has been the mentoring programme which has been designed for its 14 – 18 year old members, which has helped develop their academic and career prospects. A big thank you to our guest speakers who have taken out valuble time to come down and deliver a one hour mentoring session.

A Registered Charity

An FA Chartered Standard Club

Recognised and rewarded for high quality levels of provision in football. This kitemark is awarded to clubs and leagues that are well run, sustainable, which place child protection, quality coaching and safety paramount.

Well Affiliated

We are affiliated to the Birmingham County FA, Birmingham Association of Youth Clubs and Volunteering England

Our Mission

High Level Aim – Let us support the invisible, and make the youth of today visible in our community. BYSA provides football coaching and other activities of the highest quality. Our aim is to meet the needs of various young people and individuals and importantly to enable them to achieve their full potential. We hope to achieve these goals through our core values:

To be welcoming, friendly and supportive

Emphasis on access and progression

Promotion of integration

Being open and honest

Show energy, enthusiasm and passion

Deliver, achieve and succeed

Be innovative and creative in our approach

Understand, learn and act on our mistakes

Consult, listen and work together

Operates in the context of life long and inclusive learning

Future Development

Our future growth is dependant exclusively on securing funding, financial backing and sponsorship. It allows us to expand and continue growing and offering the young people an extensive range of activities. Get in touch if you can help.

BYSA’s would like to extend its services to be more than just football. This will be achieve through the introduction of classroom sessions with an academic interest, helping the children outside of school hours including I.T lessons, Maths, Science and English, extending the swimming programme, more vocational trips and inviting guest speakers from different walks of life such as the police and local community figures to perform Q&A sessions for the children.

We also aim to include more activities for young and increase our ethnic diversity, fulfilling our core aim to educate the children about their local surroundings and the people who live among them.

Coaching Standard

The coaching on offer is professional with qualified coaches at hand and also the right facilities and equipment such as: indoor/outdoor pitches and training equipment.

BYSA has delivered a number of projects over the years for young people in order to explore their dreams and set high standards in their lives such as keeping healthy programmes, football training programmes, trips to: Manchester United FC (twice); Wembley Stadium; Barcelona; Play on the Pitch at Derby County; numerous tournaments; an eleven a side team in the Shapla Sunday League.

Opportunities to Get Involved

We need your support

If you want to work with us, get involved or support our work through sponsorship or donations please get in touch.

Birmingham Youth Sports Academy is not just about football training for kids because we also encourage parents and other adult volunteers to support the project and further our wider goals including:

Giving kids the opportunity to be responsible, active and be apart of teams to gain leadership skills and communicate with others.

Providing the opportunity where possible to allows kids to gain qualifications and to move on in the field of sports i.e. coaching and administration.

Birmingham Youth Sports Academy (BYSA) was established in 2002 as a voluntary organisation and has received funding from a number of organisations in order to offer football coaching to young people aged 6-18.